Pipe-coating apparatus

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method are provided for coating sections of tube or pipe while the pipe is inclined to the horizontal. In one form of the invention, sections of pipe of equal length are individually fed to the apparatus along a horizontal transfer device such as a flight conveyor and, after being received by the coating apparatus, are tilted at an angle to the horizontal and are thereafter rotated about the longitudinal axis of the pipe while coating material is fed to the upper end. As a result, the handling of the pipe and the coating of the inside of same is relatively simple and may be effected immediately.

United States Patent Jerome H. Lemelson 85 Rector SL, Metuchen, NJ. 08840 [21 1 Appl. No. 767,378

[22] Filed Oct. 14,1968

[2 3] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 305,002,

Aug. 27, 1963, abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No 589,300, June 4, 1956, abandoned, which is a continuation-impart ofSer. No. 589,848, May 28, 1956, Pat. No. 3,166,829.

[45] Patented Aug. 24, 1971 [72] Inventor {54] PIPE-COATING APPARATUS Primary Examiner-John P. McIntosh ABSTRACT: An apparatus and method are provided for coating sections of tube or pipe while the pipe is inclined to the horizontal. In one form of the invention, sections of pipe of equal length are individually fed to the apparatus along a horizontal transfer device such as a flight conveyor and, after being received by the coating apparatus, are tilted at an angle to the horizontal and are thereafter rotated about the longitudinal axis of the pipe while coating material is fed to the upper end. As a result, the handling of the pipe and the coating of the inside of same is relatively simple and may be effected immediately.

Patented Au 24, 1971 3,601,085

AUTOMA CONTR LER INVENTOR. JEROME H.LEMELSON PIPE-COATING APPARATUS RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 305,002 filed Aug. 27, 1963, for Coating Apparatus and Method, now abandoned and having parent applications Ser. No. 589,300 filed June 4, 1956 now abandoned and Ser, No. 589,848 filed May 28,1956 now US. Pat. No. 3,166,829.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus for coating sections of pipe or tube with a coating material which is fused or set by heat. The coating material may comprise either a thermoplastic polymer provided in particulate form such as in the form of a powder or a thermosetting resin which is also provided in particulate form, the particles of said coating material being in roduced at the upper end of a pipe or tube to be coated and allowed to flow downwardly therethrough while said pipe or tube is rotated.

The instant invention is particularly concerned with an apparatus for coating pipe which is relatively simple in structure and may receive lengths of pipe fed thereto in a horizontal attitude such as along a flight conveyor or chute. Whereas other forms of coating apparatus require the lengths of pipe to be coated be in a vertical attitude which requires a substantially complex and space-consuming fixture or conveyor, the instant invention coats lengths of pipe which are disposed at an angle or oblique to the horizontal which attitude is derived by simple machine elements of the coating apparatus receiving each pipe length in a horizontal condition.

It is a primary object of the instant invention to provide a new and improved apparatus and method for coating pipe.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for coatingpipe which is relatively simple in structure and simple in its opera-' tion.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for coating pipe which operates automatically and it does not require human attendance.

Another object is to provide an apparatus for coating pipe as will be more fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the pipe coating apparatus of the in stant invention with parts broken away to illustrate the operation thereof; and

FIG. 2 is a view taken from the upper end of part of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

There is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an apparatus for coating the interior surface of lengths of tubing or pipe T fed thereto from a transfer apparatus such as flight conveyor or other suitable means for carrying lengths of said tube in a horizontal attitude. The transfer apparatus is referred to by the general notation 36 and may comprise any suitable mechanical motor driven device such as a flight conveyor or other transfer means to which sections of said tubing T are fed to the coating apparatus 10. Control of flow of said tube sections T to the transfer apparatus 10 is effected either by spacing said tube lengths a predetermined distance apart on the transfer apparatus 36 or by interlocking the operation'of said transfer apparatus to the operation of the coating apparatus which will be described hereafter.

As the coating material is preferably provided in particulate or other suitable fluent form and preferably comprises a polymer which is fused or set by heat, the sections of tubing T are preferably preheated to such a temperature before they are fed to the coating apparatus, that the desired fusion or setting of coating material disposed within the tubing as defined hereafter, will be effected. Said preheating may be accomplished by passing the tubing T-either on the conveyor 36 or prior to being transferred thereto, through a heating oven, an electrical induction field or other suitable means.

The apparatus 10 includes a platform or base 11 which is pivotally mounted at one end and is raised from a horizontal position whereby it may receive individual sections of the pipe T to be coated from the conveyor or transfer device 36 on which they are carried horizontally, to a position such as that illustrated in FIG. 1 which tilts the pipe T to an angle oblique to the horizontal such that particulate or liquid coating material may be disposed in the upper end thereof and will flow downwardly completely through the pipe and out the lower end, as illustrated, while a certain amount of the coating material becomes disposed against the inside surface of the pipe wall and forms a coating thereon.

The base of platform 11 supports on its upper surface a pair of platelike brackets 12 and 13 each of which supports the ends of a pair of shafts l4 and 14' which respectively support a pair or rollers or ball bearings denoted 15 and 16 which cooperate with respective freewheeling rollers supported by the opposite shaft in receiving a section of pipe T therebetween to permit the rotational support of said pipe by said rollers, When the base 11 is in a horizontal attitude and aligned with the end of the transfer device 36, a section of pipe which is carried by said transfer device, or rolled therealong, may be disposed between the rollers 16, 16 and 15, 15' (not shown) as clearly illustrated in FIG. 2.

Provided at the lower end of the platform 11 is a support 11' for a drive motor 17 having an output shaft 18 at the end of which is mounted a subplatform or receptacle 19 against the upper surface of which the lower end of the pipe T engages upon lifting the platform to approximately the attitude illustrated in FIG. 1. In other words, the pipe T slides downwardly along the upper surfaces of the supporting rolls 15, 15' and l6, 16 until it engages the upper surface of the subplatform 19. The subplatform 19 is a spiderlike configuration containing a plurality of openings 19' therein through which excess particulate coating material P which has not adhered to the surface of the pipe may flow into a receptacle hopper 20 at the end of which is connected a hose 21 which extends to a motoroperated suction pump 22 for recirculating the excess coating material to the means admitting same to the upper end of the pipe. When the pipe T engages the upper surface of subplatform 19, its weight is sufficient to create enough friction between the end of the pipe and the upper surface of member 19 to permit the pipe to be rotated slowly as the shaft 18 is rotated by means of the rotating drive motor within the drive means 17.

Coating material, such as particulate plastic, is dispensed in the upper end of the pipe T by means of a nozzle 24 which is supported on the shaft of a push-pull solenoid 24 S and which has a flexible inlet tube 23' extending from a pipe 23 con nected to the pump 22 which receives plastic coating material not only from the hopper 20 but from a further supply thereof situated on the floor or frame 28 of the apparatus, though not shown but connected to the pump 22 through a flexible conduit 22 which is shown in part. The push-pull solenoid 245 is utilized to permit the retraction of the flow nozzle 24 towards the pipe 23 a degree to permit it to clear the end of the pipe T as it is predeterminately fed to the receiving rollers l5, l5 and 16, 16'. Upon upending the pipe to an attitude oblique to the horizontal as illustrated in FIG. 1, the solenoid 24S operates automatically to project the nozzle 24 to dispose its end just at or within the pipe 35 so that coating material flowed from said nozzle will be disposed only within the pipe, although a hopper may also be used to catch excess coating material should the nozzle 24 not be projected and retracted as described.

The lower end of platform 11 has a plurality of brackets 25 secured thereto which support a horizontal shaft or pins denoted 26 which are also supported within one or more pillow blocks 27 to permit pivotal movement of the assembly with respect to the floor or frame of the machine denoted 28. Lifting and lowering the assembly is effected by means of an air or hydraulic cylinder actuator 32 the lower end of which is pivoted on one or more pillow blocks supporting a pin 33 secured to the cylinder 32, said pillow blocks being supported by the machine frame or floor 28. The output shaft 31 of the actuator has a pin 30 secured near its end, which pin rides in a slot 298 or track associated with a bracket 29 secured to the underside of the platform 11. Thus, as the shaft 31 is projected and retracted, platform 11 will be raised and lowered about the axis of the pin 26 to permit receiving a tube T from the transfer device 36 and after the described coating operation is completed, transferring the coated tube or either to said transfer device 36 or another transfer device or platform located on the other side of the platform 1 1.

The described operation of transferring a section of pipe to the nested location between the rolls l5, l5 and l6, l6, tilting of the platform to an oblique attitude, rotation of shaft 18 to rotate the pipe T, movement of the injection nozzle 24 and/or the injection of particles into the upper end of the pipe, termination of rotation of the shaft 18, tilting of the platform 1 1 to a horizontal attitude, retraction, in certain instances, of the shaft 18 to permit the subplatform 19 to clear the end of the pipe T and the operation of suitable transfer apparatus to push or lift the pipe T from its location between the rolls l5 and 16 to remove it from the coating apparatus onto a receiving conveyor or ramp, may be effected by means of an automatic cycle controller 46 such as a multicircuit, self-resetting timer having outputs connected to the controls for the various described actuators and motors to predeterminately control the operation of same in a cycle whereby a predetermined coating action will be effected. Notation 35 refers to a limit switch supported by the bracket or plate 12 and having an actuator arm which is operative to become deflected or depressed when a section of pipe T is delivered between the rolls 15, 15' and l6, 16 as described. The limit switch may be connected to a multicircuit timer 46 located either on the platform 11 or somewhere else on-the described apparatus and operative to initiate its cycle of control of the described apparatus each time the limit switch is so actuated. Other suitable means for detecting the pipe T when it is disposed on the apparatus 10 or on the transfer apparatus 36 such as photoelectric magnetic, fluidic, induction, capacitance or other detection means may be employed to effect the initiation of the described automatic cycle of operations. An automatic controller employing a recording member such as a punched card, magnetic tape, disc, drum or other form of easily variable programming means may be preferably utilized to effect predetermined or variable coating operations relative to pipes of different diameter, wall thickness or materials.

Variations in the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 include (a) modification of the receiving means shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 supported above platform 1 1 so as to receive a plurality of sections of pipe or tube fed thereto in a horizontal attitude and to simultaneously effect the inside coating of each of said pipes or tubes; (b) lifting of the pipe T to an almost vertical attitude and the filling of the interior thereof with coating material which is retained within the pipe for a predetermined period of time until a predetermined thickness of coating has been effected after which valves or stoppers in the subplatform 19 are open to permit the excess, unfused coating material to flow out the end of the pipe into the collection hopper prior to lowering the pipe to a horizontal position for transferring it off the coating apparatus as described. It is noted that the solenoid 24S positioning the nozzle 24 may also comprise a motordriven device and may have a substantially long shaft which is variably adjustable in throw in accordance with control from an automatic controller computer so as to accommodate different lengths of pipe automatically and without the need for a manual change in the apparatus.

lclaim: t 1. Apparatus for coating pipe comprising:

a support tiltable from a first attitude to a second attitude,

means for feeding elongated sections of pipe which are open at both ends to said support,

receiving means for predeterminately locating a pipe section on said support when said support is in said first attitude,

power-operated means for tilting said support from said first and said second attitude to position a pipe section disposed on said receiving means with its longitudinal axis oblique to the horizontal,

power means for rotating said pipe about its longitudinal axis when disposed oblique to the horizontal,

means for flowing coating material into the upper end of said pipe when disposed oblique to the horizontal as it is rotated to cause part of said coating material to become coated onto the inside surface of the wall of said pipe as the coating material flows through the pipe and in a manner whereby part of the coating material flows out of the lower end of the pipe,

means located at the lower end of said pipe for receiving coating material from the lower end of the pipe and means for recirculating said received coating material to said means for flowing coating material into the upper end of said pipe, and

automatic control means operative after a predetermined layer of said coating material becomes coated on the inside wall of a section of pipe disposed on said support for terminating the flow of coating material and controlling operation of said means for tilting said pipe to dispose said pipe horizontally whereby the coated pipe may be removed from said support. 

1. Apparatus for coating pipe comprising: a support tiltable from a first attitude to a second attitude, means for feeding elongated sections of pipe which are open at both ends to said support, receiving means for predeterminately locating a pipe section on said support when said support is in said first attitude, power-operated means for tilting said support from said first and said second attitude to position a pipe section disposed on said receiving means with its longitudinal axis oblique to the horizontal, power means for rotating said pipe about its longitudinal axis when disposed oblique to the horizontal, means for flowing coating material into the upper end of said pipe when disposed oblique to the horizontal as it is rotated to cause part of said coating material to become coated onto the inside surface of the wall of said pipe as the coating material flows through the pipe and in a manner whereby part of the coating material flows out of the lower end of the pipe, means located at the lower end of said pipe for receiving coating material from the lower end of the pipe and means for recirculating said received coating material to said means for flowing coating material into the upper end of said pipe, and automatic control means operative after a predetermined layer of said coating material becomes coated on the inside wall of a section of pipe disposed on said support for terminating the flow of coating material and controlling operation of said means for tilting said pipe to dispose said pipe horizontally whereby the coated pipe may be removed from said support. 